On 9 February the International Observation Mission of
the Committee of the
International Control
for the human rights situation in Belarus and the Center of Legal
Transformation held a press-conference in Minsk to present the results of the
research of testimonies of the people who had been detained during the protest
action of 19 December 2010
in Minsk.

205 questionnaires were processed during the study. All of them were filled in
handwriting by people who had been detained at the protest action. The age of
respondents varies from 18 to 61 years, 162 of them are men and 43 – women.

The results of the study are represented in three directions:

1. Violence and other rude, cruel and degrading treatment on the part of
officers of law-enforcement agencies.
2. Violations of human rights at courts and during the procedures connected to
the legal proceedings.
3. Violations of the rights of the arrested people in prisons.

'The authorities of the Republic of Belarus weren't ready to such mass actions
and failed to secure the rights and freedoms of citizens of the country during
the interruption of the mass action, the registration of detainees, their
trials and keeping under arrest.

As a result of such unreadiness, violations of the rights of citizens of the
Republic of Belarus in December 2010 and January 2011 acquired a massive and
gross scale,' this is the general conclusion which is based on the established
facts and the conducted analysis, and is set forth in the Analytical Note on
the results of the study.

Reference: The International Observation Mission was established by
representatives of NGOs of the countries of the OSCE territory and acting on
errand of the Committee of the International Control for the human rights situation in Belarus which consists of
representatives of human rights organizations of the OSCE countries and
international civil associations and networks. The IOM watches the general
situation of fundamental human rights in the Republic of Belarus,
the protection of human rights defenders and provision of their professional
activities.